Google granted right to buy and sell energy

Google has formed a wholly owned subsidiary called Google Energy

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has granted Google the right to buy and sell energy as a commodity.

The search giant has formed a wholly owned subsidiary called Google Energy to give it the opportunity to contain and manage energy costs for the running of the company, such as its datacentres, effective from 23 February.

The approval documents on the FERC web site states that Google Energy "intends to act as a power marketer, purchasing electricity and reselling it to wholesale customers ".

The documents also noted that Google Energy currently does not "own or control wholesale electric generation or transmission facilities, nor do they have a franchised service area for the sale of electricity to captive customers ".

The move has not been welcomed by all. The California Public Utilities Commission filed a motion to stop the application when it was first announced, but without explaining its opposition to the move.

Google was contacted but declined to comment at present.

The news represents yet another development for the search firm after the recent launch of the controversial Buzz social networking product, the planned development of a high-speed broadband network and acquisitions of Aardvark and reMail.